My Labrador has heavy breathing & enlarged heart. What should I do?

Hello and welcome to Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach. Coughing and bringing up clear liquid could be coughing up stuff instead of vomiting. This is important to try to differentiate. Coughing up liquid is more consistent with heart disease. The x-rays are difficult to read as the image transfer through is of poor quality and to really assess the lungs you need good quality images, however the heart does look a bit enlarged and the lungs do look a bit 'white'. I cannot assess the liver on these radiographs as you cannot see them. An enlarged heart, white lungs (fluid in the lungs), and an enlarged liver is consistent with both right and left sided heart disease. I recommend you return either to your vet, or another vet, and get a specialist ultrasound of the heart (an 'echo') to determine if heart medications are required. Your vet can also listen to the heart to see if a murmur is present in the heart, or 'crackles' are heard on the lungs. Heart disease is very serious and needs medications to manage. Without these Lily unfortunately will essentially drown in her own lungs, if heart disease is the problem. I suggest a recheck as soon as possible to get this figured out. Best of luck with Lily, I hope she feels better soon.

Sorry to hear about Dollar's recent diagnosis. In general, DCM is a terminal disease. The goal of treatment is to slow it's progression and help with the symptoms. Some breeds are much more prone to a quick and devastating disease process while others progress more slowly. The Dobermann Pinscher is the poster child for this condition, and as a result, often succumbs to it rather quickly. Labradors are not known to carry this condition very often and to my knowledge, have no genetic predisposition for it. However speaking with a board certified cardiologist about this might shed some more light on the issue in terms of recent studies, particularly breed specific ones. If Dollar is not already on medications, I would encourage you to speak with you vet or consult with the cardiologist about getting him started on several right away. Typically, there are at least two or three medications to consider in order to stem the tide. Prognosis will be determined based on serialized ultrasounds of the heart to determine the disease's progression. I have seen some animals live weeks, while others can live well over a year. Unfortunately, one of the symptoms of this condition is sudden death, so managing the disease as best as possible is the best way to avoid this. Hope this helps, and once again, I'm sorry about the diagnosis.

There are many things this could be: * laryngeal paralysis * congestive heart failure * severe pain * hypothyroidism * pulmonary thromboembolism * pneumonia * bloat * many more possibilities.... He really needs to get to the vet for an exam and possibly some blood testing and/or x-rays so you can get a diagnosis. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

I would discuss other treatment options with your vet. I understand that ultrasound can often be cost prohibitive, but your vet may be able to prescribe medications based on their best guess of the cause of the illness. Based on the labored breathing, weakness, and gagging, I would be worried about Donny's heart and lungs. I know heartworm disease is not terribly common, but it is still a possibility. Other possibilities include heart failure, pneumonia, hypertension, or cancer. You might discuss radiographs with your veterinarian to look inside Donny's chest. Increased potassium could indicate lab error, renal failure, gastrointestinal issues, or possibly Addison's Disease, or it could be normal. Elevated white blood cells can indicate bacterial or viral infection, inflammation, or cancer.

Hello and thank you for using Pet Coach! Based on the radiograph you attached, the vertebral heart score (VHS) is on the larger measurement and overall the heart does have increased contact with the sternum. There does not appear to be evidence of heart failure, but I am limited with one x-ray view and no ability to adjust the contrast. I don't know what medication your veterinarian started Bono on but in this case, I would recommend starting omega 3 fish oil, Pimobendan (prescription medication that helps delay on the onset of heart failure and helps the heart pump more efficiently). I would also look into heart supplements such as Standard Process Whole Body Support and Cardiac support (if available in your country). Here is an article from my hospital on heart disease and what to look out for. Mitral valve disease is one of the most common heart conditions we see in dogs. I hope this helps and provides you with more information. If you have any concerns, I would reach out to the veterinarian who has been seeing Bono. https://www.neighborhoodvetclinic.com/degenerative-valve-disease-myxomatous-mitral-valve-disease/

Poor Mickey! I would take him back into a vet today, or at the very least give your vet a call. It could be that the current dose of medication he is on is not working as well as it used to, and the heavy breathing is caused by a build up of fluid in his heart. Additional medications can be added on as needed to treat heart disease, and doses of the medication he is currently on may need to be adjusted. I would also reduce his activity, especially if his breathing gets worse when he is more active. Good luck, I hope this helps!

Oh no. Poor guy. If he has unclear lungs and labored breathing, then that means that he likely has either fluid or blood in his lungs. Also a mass in the lungs is also possible depending on what the x-rays looked like. If his gums are pale it either means he is losing blood internally, his red blood cells are being destroyed by an immune mediated condition, or he is in shock. This sounds serious unfortunately and your pet is considered to be highly unstable. I would recommend taking Harvey back in to a vet right away for overnight supportive care (i.e. oxygen, fluid therapy, etct) until the rest of his bloodwork comes back in. Also an ER vet will be able to run tests right away in house to quickly assess his condition so that we can decide on further treatment/care for Harvey. I am so sorry your pet Harvey is so ill and hope that you can diagnose his problem quickly so that you can decide on what needs to be done next. Best of luck and take care.